2021: the song "in the end" by ida maria.

what a world we've been living in since 2020 now into 2020. it almost thieves my ability to formulate what the hell to say or write anymore, with so many complex factors of hardships across so many people's lives, on top of how difficult the world already was before the drastic changes we've been enduring. but in the midst of this, there is always the gift of contrast, something there to teach us to weigh the pros against the cons, to lift the veil around us a bit to see the good messily mixed in with the bad. this is a part of that, in the lessons we're here to learn.

x-posted from the blog for remembering artist, comedian, & poet frank kelso wolfe and the garden harlot—

i am pretty sure i burned frank a CD copy of the album ''fortress round my heart'' from 2008 by ida maria years ago and that he ended up telling me later how much he liked it, that it really stood out to him. i wish i remembered specifics, but it's more the feeling of it, what i remember best, and that's probably what really counts.

norgwegian musician ida maria børli sivertsen has a lot of upbeat, vibe-you-on-up songs, the kinds built to make you want to dance the hell around. and i love those from her plenty.

but ''in the end'' is a song by her which i love in its slower degrees of movement, one always reminding to slow down in myself, stilling enough to see what's beautiful around me and in what i've known, like the moments i had with frank in our friendship.

this photo below of red-petaled tulips off in the distance is from a springtime walk i took during my workday. it reminds me of catching up fast, to glimpse and capture the scene, and to slow down in appreciating what it can bring to a single heart or perhaps a few or more hearts than just this one in our world. and i feel like noticing art around me to photograph is frank nudging and tapping at me sometimes from the inside, a welcome reminder for me to document would-be missed art for myself and also so others can learn about its existence to experience.

and below here is the song ''in the end'' by ida maria. at least a few times a year, i remember that it's out there, and i play it on repeat. please enjoy it for your heart and for frank's.

the fifth annual memorial open mic for frank kelso wolfe.

annual news! the good kind. wholesome for hearts. and very poetry-centric. 

via the blog for frank kelso wolfe.

abel d'andrea performs & teaches poetry in berks county in celebrating september as national hispanic heritage month.

x-posted from the blog for berks bards—

berks bards is proud to be one of several organizations sponsoring the visit of abel d'andrea to berks county in september as national hispanic heritage month.

abel d'andrea is a renowned and powerful puerto rico-based poet and performer.

d'andrea has toured the east coast as part of the spoken word poetry collective ovejas negras and has visited the city of reading area twice, including a performance at the olivet boys and girls club.

his latest collection of poetry, cronicas de una tragicomedia incompleta, tells of his painful, beautiful and comical personal experiences of surviving in the aftermath of hurricane maria. his work is gripping, playful and unapologetic. 

september & december 2019 poetry readings via berks bards; words on shirts.

it's always another blur into more and more days as each new week passes, in our overly busy american lives nowadays; we had a plentiful calendar for bard fest 2019 in april as berks bards. continuing with our monthly first thursday event at goggleworks center for the arts in the city of reading, here is information on upcoming featured poet readings before our regular open mics afterward.

always check out http://berksbards.blogspot.com for updated information for events hosted by berks bards.

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and also at goggleworks center for the arts, the eclipse poem i shared two posts ago is something i made as a poem on a shirt earlier this year, while my fellow students mostly worked from drawn designs they made. below are some examples of my approach through a screenprinted t-shirt workshop with instructor abby ryder. this was my second time putting one of my poems on a shirt, a new concept people are liking, i've noticed.

i''ve been calling this words on shirts, aside from poems on shirts, poetry on shirts, etc.

here you'll see my second shirt design, followed by my first from late 2018 when i first took the workshop with my now 11-year-old nephew; i took the second this spring with my 11-year-old niece. it's definitely a nice way to spend time learning a new skill with somebody you love while also creating.

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poetry-collaging workshops in april 2019 in celebrating national poetry month.

two poetry-collaging workshops are lined up for april 2019 as national poetry month. here is the first.

the second will be at kula kamala foundation & yoga ashram at 17 basket road, reading, pa 19606 on saturday, april 6 from 12.30 p.m. to 2 p.m. this is a part of the ashram's monthly first saturday event, with donations welcome to help support programming.

visit the blog for berks bards to see a full lineup of varied community poetry workshops, open mics, readings, and a celebration of our nonprofit joining the community 21 years ago in 1998.

a poetry-ish hello.

long time no blog. rest assured, in a busy year of shifting priorities, i've been working on poetry in the background, including a lot of coordinating and organizing for berks bards, reeling in varied styles and voices of poets from the region and out of state to be featured at monthly first thursday events at goggleworks center for the arts and in what we call bard fest (2019 info pending posting!) in springtime. taking on the role of president of berks bards earlier in 2018 is a part of the hiatus from this blog. i had been with berks bards for a few years before this as a promoter and photographer. this volunteering in the community gobbles up a lot of time, but it's incredibly rewarding heart-wise and is a big part of what i believe in for what i know helps our world through language, vocal cords, and on many a page or piece of paper.

berks bards is a small, grassroots poetry-promoting nonprofit which began in 1998, so it turns 21 this year. i don't drink much or often, but we're hosting a party of poem-throwing with our fans to bring their own words in april 2019 as national poetry month at brandywine branch distillery & bistro in elverson. visit our facebook page to stay tuned for more info, or ask us to be added to our email list. we promote our own poetry readings and open mics but also workshops and other poetry-laced events hosted by other organizations and people, too, including when we stumble across local or national calls for submissions.

i'm also on a planning committee at RACC for the eighth berks county poet laureate competition and the fourth berks scholastic poet (high school-aged students) laureate competition. rules are here, and the electronic submission deadline is march 31, 2019.

for now, here is one of my favorite brief poems which i wrote on a chilly-as-a-curse-word winter evening. as i say, onward with poems.

sunday, august 26, 2018: a final summer poetry-collaging workshop at culture den in st. peter's village.

culture den in st. peter's village is hosting a final poetry-collaging workshop of summertime on sunday, august 26, 2018 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

to not discourage anyone from participating in consideration of how life is expensive and hard to keep afloat in financially sometimes, we're not directly charging for this workshop. but for those who can afford to support my teaching efforts as a visiting instructor and also the costs to run culture den, in the vein of the art of asking by amanda palmer of the dresden dolls, we'd greatly appreciate money-geared backing. we hope it might be a balance to help across those who can and can't afford to pay for our value. and this workshop has been enthusiastically enjoyed several times across this and other venues in recent months.

we'll be supplying all needed materials, but those who join us are welcome to bring any of their own as well to make their collages even more individualized and custom. and particularly awesome. join us!

CANCELED: sunday, july 29, 2018 poetry-collaging workshop at culture den in st. peter's village.

unfortunately, the poetry-collaging workshop scheduled for tomorrow, sunday, july 29 at culture den in st. peter's village, is now canceled due to a plumbing emergency with all of the rain we've had recently. but we will be hosting a last summer workshop on august 26th at 3 p.m.

digital collage-collaging credit: kevin spyker

exeter township school district — a community newsletter featuring may 2018 animal poems workshops.

exeter township school district featured my animal poems workshops at their elementary schools from may 2018 in a recently mailed community newsletter. i so enjoyed my time working with their fourth grade students.

traveling poetry classes in july 2018 @ the kutztown folk festival & the schuylkill river in mont clare.

june 2018 traveling poetry class info.

next classes–

when: sunday, july 8 @ 1 p.m. & sunday, july 22 @ 10 a.m.

where:  

for july 8,  lock 60 along the schuylkill river is located at 400 tow path road, mont clare, pa 19453, and this road is just across from produce junction outside of phoenixville off of bridge street–follow the driveway all the way back until there is no where else to go 

for july 22, the kutztown folk festival located at 225 north whiteoak street, kutztown, pa 19530; i believe parking is on the opposite side of the entrance area and maybe even on the college campus nearby; parking is noted as free

optional themes of focus:

    sunday, july 8–the kutztown folk festival & its many vendors, happenings, etc.
    sunday, july 22–river poems (& charles bukowski poems, from may & june 2018)

at the folk festival, we'll explore and see what there is to see (bring notebooks to pen some observations!), and then we'll find a spot under shade of trees in the grass to talk poetry.

and we've had our last two river classes canceled due to rain, so hopefully the river and weather will be on the same page for july 22.

any topics of creative writing are welcome for sharing and workshopping during class by those who attend, but we have inspirational topics as prompt ideas, too. please bring a few copies to share with other students, if you can, for anything you write and want to practice reading as well as discussing. but just having your original copy to read from is okay, if that's easier for the writer.

cost: $20 per student, per class (we usually meet for 2 hours or more); for the class on july 8, since adult tickets cost $14.00 (and i have 6 coupons for $2.00 off), students are welcome to pay what they can for class on this date

if we ever have oddly inconvenient weather around the time of classes, i will update those who RSVPed to classes in advance to let them know if we are canceling, rescheduling, or relocating.

if you have any questions, feel free to reach out via poetrywithjenniferhetrick at yahoo dot com.

and if you know anyone who may be interested in our class, feel free to share this blog content onward.

also, if there is anyone who may want to join our class but lives in another area across berks, chester, and montgomery counties, we sometimes travel to a good variety of different places, so let us know, and we can see about planning classes closer to you.

an aunt & some nieces — a trip to ott's exotic plants this month.

a must-visit place in our area is ott's exotic plants in schwenksville; i visited there twice in early may with two of my nieces and then again with one of the same nieces and another one.

the initial trip's photos are by me and lillee grace. i've been teaching my young nieces and encouraging them with photography in the past few years. i figured learning the skill and trusting themselves all the sooner in this world is probably a useful approach. and why the hell not. we need strong, capable, creative adults a few decades from now, anyway.

a haiku, for some good fun.

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a house of textures

we glide fingertips along

foliage, soft blooms

a second trip in mid-may: these photos are by me, lillee grace, and lilly jay.